Shine Montessori – Case Study

What first prompted you to engage Top Edge?

As a Tier-3 Charity / not-for profit, we needed our 2020 performance report completed. We were dissatisfied with our existing accounting firm and were actively looking for a more specialised service – i.e. a not for profit accountant. We connected with Matt online, and after reading through his BIO and discussing some of our past experiences, we felt comfortable that Top Edge would be able to complete our performance report to an audit-ready level.      

What made Top Edge different?

The Ministry of Education require us to submit audited financials. It gave us confidence making the transition from our previous accountant knowing that Matt has experience working in an audit environment and understands the high level of accounting and reporting required to meet these standards. 

Top Edge being not-for-profit sector specialists gave us an added level of comfort that any industry specific issues would be handled with ease.

How did the initial engagement go?

As promised, Matt had the performance report delivered by late Jan, ready for audit. Communication was excellent along the way, with regular updates and minimal effort on our end. The process was simple.

What has happened since then?

After completing our performance report, we turned our attention to the 2021 Budget. Despite our being based near Wellington, and Matt in Auckland, a teams catch up made this an easy exercise. Matt made tricky calculations around government funding easy to understand. This then enabled the setting of expense levels. It gave us comfort knowing we could afford our new head count and could confirm contractors. Overall, the budget process gave us peace of mind about the decisions we had made.

Top Edge now also completes our monthly management accounts. We get timely reporting against budget, usually in the first week of the month! Also provided is cash flow information which helps us better understand where we spend our money.

Lastly, Matt is a great sounding board for any issues or decisions we might face. Matt always provides well-reasoned advice in a timely manner.

Do you plan to use Top Edge in the future?

It is fair to say we are now a regular client of Top Edge’s. Matt is more than just an accountant, he is also now a trusted adviser of the organisation. We can highly recommend Top Edge to anyone in the not-for-profit sector, and were pleased to be selected for this case study.

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